We have reached the final episode of East of Eden, and it's time to prepare for a surely surprising and emotional ending. In the penultimate episode, Cal finally learned the truth about his mother and came face-to-face with Cathy, who's continuing to break down with a conflicted conscience. Cal also stepped up to take care of his father and brother after their failed family business venture.
East of Eden episode 7 begins with Cathy applying her makeup and speaking directly to Charles' voice. He now appears to her as she knew him. Charles kisses her neck, or so she imagines, as he pushes her about retirement and the continued search for Ethel. Imagining Charles brings her comfort, but this also clearly causes her pain to face the feelings she bottled up for him.
In June 1917, Adam works for the army recruitment signup efforts, though he doesn't feel good about this work. Aron passed his exam and is headed to Stanford, but he has yet to tell his father the news. Adam, Lee, and Cal eat dinner together, and Adam asks Lee about timshel again, which comes from Cain and Abel in the Bible and means "thou mayest" and grants someone choice in their actions.
The Trask family begins to fall apart
Lee happens to let the news about Aron graduating early to Adam, who acts like he already knew. Cal waits up for him when he returns later that evening, mad that Aron allowed their dad to be the last one to find out. Lee sends Cal to bed and instructs Aron to talk with his dad. Adam gifts him with a pocket watch his own father gifted him and hopes that Aron will return home after he leaves.
Later that fall, Aron sends letters to Abra from college, but he's not having a good time with his peers. Abra expresses her worries that Aron has high expectations of her because he never knew his mother and put all of his hopes for her onto Abra. Cal gives Lee a check for interest on the loan and invites Abra to Thanksgiving dinner before walking her home.
On the walk home, Abra asks if it's true that Cal gets up to no good at night and suggests that she's not "good" either. There's seemingly an attraction between them. Could history repeat itself? During dinner at Cathy's, Charles' voice makes Cathy paranoid about Joe's relationship with the girls and taking her money without any news about tracking down Ethel.
Cathy admits that Ethel didn't actually steal anything and she wants to make it up to her, agreeing for Joe to keep looking for Ethel. When Charles asks what she will do when she finds Ethel, she suggests possibly moving to New York with her, but Charles tells her to finish Ethel off before reminding Cathy she's talking to herself. She takes another pull from a small bottle before calming down.
Aron returns home from college for Thanksgiving and confides in Cal about possibly not going back to school and taking over the ranch. Cal proposes starting up a business for them while he's in school so once he graduates, they can be partners. Aron doesn't see why they can't start now and brings the conversation up at the dinner table, receiving vehement protest from his dad and Lee.
In the middle of the conversation, Cal suddenly presents Adam with a wrapped gift. He made $15,000 back for his dad after he lost so much in the lettuce venture, explaining he and Will partnered on buying and selling beans. Adam's immediately angry, demanding that he return the money to the farmers they stole from, and Cal's hurt that he still couldn't make his dad happy.
Cathy finally meets Aron and makes a tragic choice
Cal rushes out into the night and comes home to Aron waiting for him, yelling at him about how he knew how their father would have reacted. Aron also decides that he's done protecting him and picking up the pieces. Despite the conversation, Cal takes Aron to Kate's to meet their mother. Aron's uncomfortable in the establishment, but soon realizes what's happening when he sees Cathy.
For the first time, Cathy and Aron come face to face, and he realizes that his mother is still alive. When she puts her hand on his cheek, he begins crying. But he runs out of the house screaming "No!" Cal tells her goodbye and calls her mother before following his brother outside. Cathy begins to cry and realizes that everyone at the party is looking at her, having witnessed the exchange.
She starts laughing to lighten the mood, allowing the party to resume with more laughter, but her own laughter turns back into sobs. Cal finds Aron in an alleyway, where he punches his brother right in the face. Soon, Cathy's mental decline continues as she's flooded with memories of the Trasks and her past. Joe tells her he has a lead on Ethel, but she thinks that he's lying.
While telling the voices in her head to stop, Cathy writes a letter to Sheriff Quinn about Joe, but she snaps at the memories with a loud scream. Lois thinks she's yelling at her, and she's scared of Cathy. She instructs Lois to stash money away as her freedom before asking her to run an errand: Buy a five-pound box of candy for the girls in the house. She also asks her to drop off the letter.
When Lois leaves, Cathy asks for Charles, but he doesn't respond. She talks to him anyway, and explains that when she was five years old, Alice in Wonderland saved her life. She carried sugar water with her to drink if she needed to save herself from the bad things. She drinks from a bottle and folds up a letter, which is a will leaving everything to her son Aron Trask.
She imagines herself at five years old, dressed as Alice, crawling out of the fireplace and running up to hug her. Joe finds Cathy dead and takes the key from the necklace around her neck, quickly collecting money and his blackmail from her drawers. But on his way out, the sheriff is waiting for him to bring him to the station. Joe rushes out of the house, but Quinn shoots him dead outside.
Quinn next visits the Trask household, where they're still worried about Aron's disappearance. The sheriff also informs Adam of Cathy's suicide, which causes him to break down. Adam wants to claim her and bury, and Quinn presents him with her will that left everything to Aron. Cal sets out to track his brother down to no avail. Lee finally asks Cal what happened between them.
How does East of Eden end on Netflix?
He admits that he took Aron to see their mother, and Lee knows that Cal did it to hurt him. During their conversation, they hear a noise. Adam's having a strange physical reaction after reading Aron's note about enlisting in the army. He had a cerebral hemorrhage and is still healing in May 1918. Cal's beating himself up over Aron leaving and tries to patch things up with Abra.
She shows him a letter Aron sent her, which reads: "I'm not fit for you. I'm in the army. Don't go near my family." Abra admits that she doesn't hate Cal and promises to visit Lee. She also agrees to go on a picnic with Cal. He brings flowers to Cathy's grave before picking azaleas with Abra and having their first kiss. Unfortunately, Lee and Adam receive a telegram about Aron's death.
When Cal and Abra return home from their picnic, he finds Lee sitting somberly at the kitchen table. He quickly shares the news with Cal and Abra, including Adam's second stroke. Cal rushes to his father's bedside as Abra comforts Lee. The doctor tells Cal that his dad's time is limited. Cal admits to his father that he took Aron to see their mother, indirectly causing his death.
Adam can't speak, he only huffs. Cal storms out of the house, and Abra follows him. He keeps repeating that he killed his brother, but she tells him that enlisting was Aron's choice. Lee reads to Adam, and Cal returns to his bedside. Lee brings Adam and Cal's hands together to bring peace in their final moments. Adam utters "timshel" as his last word as Cal embraces his father.
Watch East of Eden only on Netflix.
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